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To the Hon. Eugene Semple, Governor of Washington Territory I reply to yours of 21st There is about 40 armed men, [deputy?] US Marshals, and about 50 Negros in coal mine number 3 - they are guarding the Negros. The miners at [?] number one & two say they are working for less wages and on the eleven hour sistem [system] and that it will, in the event of them being allowed to work, bring them to the same sistem of work and wages - and they say they [are] short work. I just returned from the sene [scene] of trouble. The land they are working on is railroad land and a man by the name of Ross claims the land and has made complaint before one of the Justices of the Peace in this county and against the whole possey [posse] for entering upon the lands in a forcible

The Knights of Labor instituted a strike at the coal mines in Roslyn, Washington Territory, in 1888 which shut down the mines. The mine owners recruited black miners from Virginia, North Carolina, and Kentucky to take the place of the striking miners. Special trains brought in over 300 black miners and families during 1888 and 1889. This migration represented the greatest increase in the black population of Washington Territory at that date. The first train of about 50 black miners arrived in Roslyn on August 21, 1888, guarded by armed detectives hired by the coal company and acting as deputy U.S. marshals. The new workers were met with resentment by the miners who had lost their jobs, and several violent incidents occurred.

To the Hon. Eugene Semple, Governor of Washington Territory I reply to yours of 21st There is about 40 armed men, [deputy?] US Marshals, and about 50 Negros in coal mine number 3 - they are guarding the Negros. The miners at [?] number one & two say they are working for less wages and on the eleven hour sistem [system] and that it will, in the event of them being allowed to work, bring them to the same sistem of work and wages - and they say they [are] short work. I just returned from the sene [scene] of trouble. The land they are working on is railroad land and a man by the name of Ross claims the land and has made complaint before one of the Justices of the Peace in this county and against the whole possey [posse] for entering upon the lands in a forcible